


What to Expect

by ab2fsycho



Series: Why is Tea Always Gone [11]
Category: Guardians of Childhood - William Joyce, Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: F/M, Here we go, M/M, i did the thing, on that adventure, that i didn't think would actually happen, well what do you think happens when you're in a heterosexual relationship, yes - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-11
Updated: 2013-12-11
Packaged: 2018-01-04 09:07:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1079142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ab2fsycho/pseuds/ab2fsycho
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sera is about to upset Pitch with some news. Here's how he takes it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Surprise

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ObsidianLace](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObsidianLace/gifts), [RonnieSilverlake](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RonnieSilverlake/gifts).



> ObsidianLace was the keeper for this plot bunny and RonnieSilverlake was my wonderful beta in this work. I thank you both especially.

“Dad?”

Pitch froze. She called him Dad. Sera called him Dad, and she smelt of fear. Something had to be wrong. “What is it?”

He must have looked worried, because she backpedaled and tried to appear reassuring. “Nothing’s wrong. Everything’s fine. I just,” her hands clasped together as she pursed her lips and looked down, “have some . . . I have something to tell you.”

Pitch’s whole being froze. No, he thought. No, don’t say what I think you’re about to say. “Go on,” he uttered almost inaudibly. Suddenly his mouth and throat were dry.

“I’m . . .,” don’t say it, “I’m . . . pregnant.” She was visibly shaking as she spoke.

She said it. She said what he’d been hoping she wouldn’t. He remained frozen, his spine so rigid that if she pushed him he was certain it would crack. Alone, the word pregnant wasn’t so terrible. It was his daughter’s pregnancy that set off all of his internal alarms. It wasn’t until he remembered just who it was she was pregnant by that his hands started twitching. He grinded his teeth, resisting the urge to clench his fists as shadows roiled to life around him. “How long?” The question was little more than a hiss.

Sera visibly shrank, and it killed him that she was afraid of him. It was enough for him to force the shadows back under control. “Two weeks,” she said. Holding up her hands, she said in almost a pleading voice, “He doesn’t know yet. Please—.”

“Why shouldn’t he know?”

“Because he’s stressed as it is. It’s almost Thanksgiving, Easter’s around the corner to him—.”

“Why,” he interrupted, his eyes narrowing, “shouldn’t he know?”

She glared in return. That reassured him. It wasn’t like Sera to be meek in front of him. “If you’re implying they’re not his—.”

“They?!” Pitch cried.

“Yes, they! They are his.” She raised her voice, throwing her hands in the air defensively. “He’s a rabbit! You expect me to have one?”

“I didn’t expect you to have any!” Pitch remarked. Granted, he had told her once that it was expected. But the probability of it actually happening? “You are two different species. How is this—?”

“I don’t know!” she snapped. “The only thing I can think of is that it’s the nature of my powers.” Pitch stared at her, increasingly aware of her fear. It wasn’t just fear of him, and she wasn’t the only one scared. Lowering her voice, she reverted back to the pleading tone, “Dad, I am terrified.” She bit her lip. It was killing her to admit this. “I don’t know what’s going to happen to me. I don’t know what more to expect. Most of all . . .,” she trailed off, her hands on her hips. She breathed in deeply, then exhaled loudly. Looking him in the eyes, she said, “I need you with me on this. I don’t want to go through this without you on my side. I will and you know that. But I don’t want to.”

Pitch remained rigid as he stared back at her. She thought he was . . . she couldn’t think he would . . . no. “You expect me to cast you out again,” he said. She didn’t need to answer. That was exactly what she was thinking. There was a time he would have. There was a time he would’ve done any number of far worse things than just cast her out.

Shadows curled at the thought of what he would’ve done prior to Jack Frost. The thought reminded him of something he had to do. “He needs to know,” Pitch said.

“Dad, no—.”

“He’s going to know. Now,” he growled, stepping into a darker part of the lair.

“No!” she cried, but he was already on his way to the Warren.



Oh shit, Sera thought as she tapped her foot twice. She jumped down into the grassy tunnel before it was completely open. She didn’t slide, but rather flew through the tunnels. This was how she had practiced her flight since her return. At the moment, she sincerely hoped she wouldn’t have to seclude herself again.

More than ever, she hoped she didn’t find her husband dead at her father’s feet.

Upon arrival, she found Pitch stomping over to Bunny. Bunny didn’t notice at first, and her heart hammered as he looked up from what he was working on and realized exactly what was coming at him. She got ready to intervene, but realized she could never reach the two men in time mid step. His ears flattened and eyes widened as Pitch hovered over him, biting his lip and glaring down at the rabbit. Pitch pointed a clawed finger at Bunny, whose paintbrush slipped from his hand and fell to the grass. Sera froze as Pitch just stood there, pointing at the rabbit as if he knew what the hell was going on.

She wanted to shout for Bunny to run, yell at her father to back off and not hurt him lest he wanted to face her wrath. But she couldn’t move. And neither could they. They all stood stagnant, waiting for movement. Any movement.

Pitch was the first. He exhaled shallowly. Sera could only watch and listen as he said, “If anything happens to her,” he snarled, “anything at all, I will kill you.”

And just like that, he turned and got ready to leave. Walking past her, she stopped him by grabbing his hand. He was shaking, and that alone told her exactly how much strain this knowledge was putting on him. With a genuine sigh of relief, she said to him, “Thank you.” She didn’t need to say anymore because he knew what she was thanking him for. As he nodded and walked back out via shadows, she smiled to herself.

After a moment she turn back to Bunny and walked over to him. He was still frozen in the exact spot and position as if Pitch had never left. When she touched his shoulder and forced him to focus on her, he jolted upright and stared wide-eyed. Sounding out of breath, he said in a half whisper, “What did I do?”

She wanted so badly to laugh at that. “I told him a little something. He took it a lot better than I expected.”

“Whataya mean you told him something? Couldn’t you have prepared me? So’s I could hire Jack to club me over the head and kill me first?” She did laugh at that. Then she leaned forward and whispered in his ear. Technically she had to lift his ear up to whisper into it. When she’d told him the news, he stiffened further and the egg he had been painting slipped and fell to the ground. Sera could’ve sworn he wasn’t even breathing anymore. She was about to ask if he was okay when he gasped out, “Are you serious?” She nodded. He looked up at her, his fearful expression now one of muted joy. She thought muted mainly because it felt like he was refraining from picking her up and spinning her around. He was so still and strained she almost wanted to hand him a shock blanket. When he pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her waist, she couldn’t have hidden the flood of emotion welling up in her even if she’d wanted to. Bunny’s head on her stomach, she was overwhelmed with a mixture of fear, joy, excitement, and anxiety. All four feelings were competing inside her over this, making her intake of air and heartbeat speed up simultaneously. Her skin felt sweaty and clammy in some places from the anxiety, but having Pitch and now Bunny by her side made the conflicting sensations bearable. When Bunny spoke again, he asked, “Why didn’t you tell me first?”

“You were busy. I didn’t want to worry you,” she answered.

He pulled back slightly to look up at her. “I should be worried. This is . . . this is a big deal—.”

“I know—.”

“This will be the first time in . . . thousands of years there have been . . . that I won’t . . .,” he grit his teeth at the thought.

Pulling him closer again, she closed her eyes as his grip on her tightened. She hadn’t known his life before the wars against darkness. She had always assumed it was too painful for him to talk about. Sera understood that. The two of them, despite their camaraderie, had always been on two different sides. She’d never thought it a good time to ask him about the family her father had destroyed whilst conquering the universe with Fearlings, Nightmare Men, and terror. Sera would be the first to admit she couldn’t comprehend what Bunny was feeling, but she could imagine the same war in her head was intensified in his.

“You’re going to have to help me through this,” she told him. “I’m still a little surprised this is happening.”

“You’re surprised?” he murmured almost dryly.

“I think it’s safe to say you and Pitch are more surprised than me.”

Bunny stiffened at the reminder of Pitch. “He’s gonna kill me.”

“No he’s not.”

“Do you think he’ll—?”

“No,” she cut him off. “No, he won’t. He wouldn’t do that to me.”

Bunny didn’t seem reassured. In fact, he seemed terrified. She couldn’t really blame him. The man who’d destroyed his life as he’d known it was now going to be the grandfather to his children. And she’d thought they were dysfunctional before.

He dropped the terror in favor of holding her again. The tightness of his hold concerned her, but she said nothing of it. When he spoke again, his voice was soft and quiet. “I love you.”

She grinned at that. “I love you too, furball.”

He laughed at that. “We’re not allowed to fight for a while. Nothing too physical. In fact, no serious power struggles, either physical or magical. You might wanna—.”

“Am I not allowed to leave the Warren?” she jested. He almost looked like he wanted to say yes. Her brow furrowed. “No power struggles of any kind. But I am going to be able to move around freely, alright?”

He didn’t argue with that, though he obviously wanted to. Sighing, Bunny uttered, “This is happening.”

“Indeed it is.”

“I’ve gotta tell North.”

She laughed. “I was wondering when you would say something akin to that.”



When Jack returned to the lair, he found Pitch hiding under their bed. “What are you doing?” he asked. It wasn’t like Pitch to hide under the bed. Unless . . . . “Is something wrong? What happened?” Shadows wrapped around his ankles and Jack shouted as he was yanked off his feet. Dropping his staff, he was jerked under the bed and into the darkness. He didn’t relax until two long arms wrapped around his waist and held him close. “Pitch, what—?”

“It’s been a rough day,” the Nightmare King uttered.

“What happened?” Jack asked.

Pitch hesitated before saying, “I’ll tell you later.”

Jack rolled his eyes and huffed out, “Pitch—.”

“I promise I’ll tell you. I’m just . . .,” Pitch sighed, his breath heating Jack’s neck. Then he said, “If I were to ask you to send another blizzard through the rabbit’s home, would you?”

Jack thought about what Pitch was subtly implying. Instead of answering, he asked, “Are he and Sera arguing?”

Pitch actually growled, then whispered, “Would that were the case. Then I’d handle it myself.”

Pitch’s arms tightened around Jack, and a thought occurred to the winter spirit. But it was a ridiculous thought. Absolutely implausible. However, it seemed just the sort of thing that would put Pitch in such a strange mood. “Is Sera—?”

He got his answer when Pitch’s hand lurched up and covered his mouth before Jack finished the sentence. Jack couldn’t help but smile at the thought, but it faded as soon as he realized just what Pitch had to worry about. “If I hear that word one more time, I might actually find a way to pay Rin to take care of the situation.”

Jack knew Pitch wasn’t serious. At least, he hoped he wasn’t. He didn’t remove his hand from Jack’s mouth so Jack struggled to say, “I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

The Nightmare King managed to pull his winter spirit even closer to him. Jack was fairly certain that if he tried to escape, Pitch might wrap his legs around him to keep him pinned in place. Seeing as their limbs were already tangled, the young Guardian didn’t see much point in attempting to get away from the Boogeyman’s heat. “I don’t want to talk about it,” Pitch finally responded. Sliding his hand from Jack’s mouth, he said, “Just . . . just let me stay like this. For a little while, at least.”

Jack nodded. Pitch was worried. He needed time to worry, get it out of his system. “Need me to stay here with you.” He took the tightening of Pitch’s arms around him as a definite yes.


	2. During

“So how are you feeling?” Jack asked. He’d managed to get past Bunny’s sentinels again, doing routine checks on Sera for Pitch. Granted, neither Pitch nor Bunny knew of these checks till after he left. Pitch didn’t want to intrude on Bunny’s Warren more than was necessary considering how well the last meeting of the two had gone, and Bunny wanted Sera to relax uninterrupted.

Sera, on the other hand, expressed her boredom using incredibly colorful language. “I feel like I’m ready to murder someone, but no one will get close enough for me to strangle and I can’t use my fucking powers without knocking myself out from exhaustion. Am I supposed to be this tired? Am I supposed to want to bite the head off my partner every time he’s within earshot?”

“Uh . . . yes? I don’t know. Isn’t Mother Nature supposed to—?”

“If one more person assumes that because I’m Mother fucking Nature I should know all about this subject, I’m going to gut them.”

At that, Jack kept his distance. Sera sat by the river, watching the colors dance as she traced lines in the dyes with a stick. Jack took a seat a few feet away, his eyes fixed on the colors. Sera was starting to show a lot sooner than Jack thought normal. Then again, he didn’t know much about mortal pregnancies let alone immortal ones. Especially considering Sera had once told him she wouldn’t just be having one. “So,” he began, “what do you know?”

Sera dropped the stick in the river, sighing. “There are two. I honestly thought I’d be having more, but two is a relief. I don’t know their sex, but I do know one of them kicks like a goddamn mule.”

“Already?” Jack asked, slightly surprised.

Sera nodded. “I’m giving birth to rabbits, alright.” Looking down at her hands, she said, “Bunny sleeps less. He works about as much as before, but he’s either doing that or hovering over me.” She chuckled. “I never thought I’d be trading one hovercraft for another.”

It took Jack a moment to get it. He started laughing too. “You’re right.” Although he was certain Pitch would be worse than Bunny if he felt the need to be. “Are you allowed to leave?”

Sera looked at him then. “Technically yes, but Bunny pops a blood vessel every time I do. So I mostly stay put. It doesn’t help that I’m so tired, either.” Her eyes narrowed. “Is Pitch sulking?”

Jack shook his head. “He’s finding things to do with himself. Mostly keeping an eye on Onna. She’s hit a rough patch with her abilities.”

“Rough patch? Did she freeze a mortal or something?” Jack didn’t answer. “Oh God, she did. How’s she taking it?”

“Not well. She’s scared herself into hiding. Not even Rin can make her smile, and you know how close those two are.”

Sera nodded. “Poor thing. She never was as hardened as we were. Are.”

“No. And frankly, we didn’t want her to be.” He wanted to change the subject, but found himself musing over the almost loss of innocence Onna was experiencing. He worried she would never be the happy girl she’d grown into with them again.

It was Sera who interrupted his thoughts. “You’re not the only one who visits me, you know.”

He silently blessed Sera for changing the topic for them. “Who else manages to slip past Bunny’s guard?”

Sera smirked. “Tooth and Sandy mostly. She likes talking about having children, and he and I just like to talk. Well, as much as Sandy can talk that is. Sandy and Bunny were the two Guardians I knew best. I knew Sandy before I came to earth, but we . . . well, we were on opposite sides of the same war. It got hard. Bunny became easier to speak to since my arrival on earth acquainted me with him.” She paused, pushing her hair back. The Great War was a hard topic for all those older than he. The only topic harder to deal with was the one of his emergence in their fight against Pitch. It seemed they weren’t on the best of subjects today. She cut a glance at Jack, though, and it indicated she’d learned something interesting. “Did you know Tooth and North have a thing?”

“A thing thing?” Jack asked. She nodded. He smiled. “No, I didn’t know! How could I not?”

“They’re good at keeping it on the DL. He sends with her the best, and I mean the best, cookies you have ever tasted.” Sera looked sad suddenly. “I don’t think Tooth can have kids. That doesn’t make sense to me. Both she and North are humans. Well, they were once humans.”

“Tooth? Human?”

“Half human, half bird woman.” Sera’s brow furrowed. “That could be it. She’s a hybrid. Hybrids are typically sterile. Pity. She adores children. Would probably be a much better mother than me.”

Jack nodded sadly. “You should’ve seen her with Sophie when they first met. Tooth scared her with bloody teeth.”

Sera laughed at that. “That poor child.” Calming down again, she mused, “She deserves kids. Bunny deserves kids.” One of her hands fell on her belly, rubbing it as if soothing the life growing inside. “I don’t think I’d make a good mother.”

“Mother Nature not a good mother. Seems . . . well, I was gonna say it seems contradictory, but Mother Nature’s a bitch.” As her head swiveled on her shoulders to glare at him, he held up his hands in surrender. “Only kidding. Joking. No offense.”

In a split second, her glare turned to a deadpan stare. Then she shook her head, taking a deep breath and looking down again. “No, it’s true. I suspect that’s why I don’t think I’ll be a good mother.”

“On the bright side, no one would be dumb enough to hurt your children.”

“Unless they want the wrath of the Guardians and myself to fall on them, they won’t.” She thought about something, her eyes looking sad as she added, “Pitch might show the same devotion. I’m not entirely sure.”

“Definitely Pitch,” Jack added without missing a beat. She turned to him, her expression hopeful though she was struggling to remain stoic. Her inquisitorial gaze made him add, “Without a doubt. Blood is blood, and your children will have about as much his blood as yours.”

She seemed to lighten up at the idea, which made the butterflies resting at her feet float up around her hair. Sometimes Jack forgot they were there and was awed all over again at how her feelings affected them. One landed on the aster behind her ear, catching her eye. Her expression soured then. “If only I could convince Bunny of that.”

Jack frowned. “Is he still convinced Pitch would actually—?”

“Not convinced. Just . . . he’s just as scared as I am, but for different reasons. I’m worried about surviving the birth and being a good mother. He’s worried about me surviving the birth and keeping the kids alive. I have no doubt they’ll survive. His race was a hardy one. It took skill and numbers for Pitch to take it down.”

After a pause, Jack asked, “So he really was the one that left Bunny alone in the universe?”

Sera hesitated, then nodded. “And it’s why Bunny’s afraid to let Pitch anywhere near his grandchildren.” Sera went from sad to enraged in a matter of seconds. “Which I understand, but I don’t! Pitch wouldn’t hurt me. He promised me that in his own weird ass way.” Sera stood up, forcing Jack to his feet as he backed out of her range again. “He keeps his promises, when it’s convenient for him. I mean, what does Bunny think is going to happen? What did he think would happen when he gave me this?!” She gestured angrily at the aster as she set her jaw and shouted through gritted teeth. “Did he think he could have me without dealing with my dad?!”

This was something he hadn’t seen her do since they’d first met. He wasn’t used to her losing her composure quite so terribly. “Sera—?” Jack tried to interrupt as she started pulling her hair, a harsh breeze catching his attention.

“Does he think I’ve forgotten what my father has done?! Does he think I’d be in contact with him if he ever tried to start another war?! Does he—?!”

“Sera—?” Was it just him or was the river of dyes actually starting to rise and flow faster?

“—think he can control me?! Who does he think he is?!”

“SERA, CALM,” Jack inhaled and quieted, “down.” She turned and glared at him, the wind smacking his side as it picked up. The river was definitely flowing at an increased rate now. “I believe what you’re experiencing is a mood swing. Try to calm down before you make Bunny’s Warren into a disaster zone.”

“I really want to punch you right now,” she uttered ominously. He stared at her hands and realized they were twitching the same way Pitch’s hands did when he got angry.

“Please don’t,” Jack begged, holding up his hands again in surrender.

“Maybe not punch. Maybe just push . . .,” she deliberated as she moved slowly towards him.

And at that moment, Jack realized that Mother Nature was even more dangerous pregnant than . . . not pregnant. Usually she managed to rein in her temper just enough NOT to eviscerate someone. Maybe just bludgeon them. After all, that’s how she’d first greeted him. But her gaze was outright malicious, and he wasn’t sure what she was thinking of pushing him off of. As she advanced on him, he uttered, “Okay, consider the consequences of shoving me off of something or whatever. Maybe not the best idea—,” he screamed as a hot gust of wind that was not his tore his staff out of his hand and knocked him off balance. He tumbled headlong into the river of dyes, the thick substance filling his mouth and making him choke on the unpleasant taste.

Kicking and flailing, he reemerged and spat out the dye. The longer he stayed in he noticed the colors slowly freezing all over and around him. Sera doubled over laughing at his plight. “You should’ve seen your face!”

“This is not funny. You’re right. You shouldn’t be a parent. You’re a bad influence.”

She didn’t stop laughing. “Well, Pitch does well enough as a dad.”

Jack just stared at her, not even daring to look at himself as he crawled onto the shore. “Goddammit, I’m gonna murder him now. Clearly he went wrong somewhere.”

“You’re just as bad an influence, icicle boy,” she said, straightening up and inhaling deeply. “Oo, you should see yourself!”

“Glad my condition could bring you joy. You do realize I died by drowning, right?” he asked, the colors that hadn’t frozen on him running down his legs and pooling on the ground.

“You don’t look too traumatized. If you were, I assume you’d make it known somehow.” One of her eyebrows quirked up. “Wouldn’t you?”

Oh good, she still cared a little bit. She wasn’t outright showing her concern, but what did Jack Frost expect of the daughter of the Nightmare King? Jack was beyond thinking of that. Bending over and scooping some dye out of the river behind him, which was now flowing at its usual pace, he advanced on her. “You brought this on yourself.”

She laughed again. And with that, Sera’s boredom was cured.



“Sera, what is this mess?”

She only had on response for her now frantic husband, who was staring at her now multicolored clothes: “You should see the other guy.” Then she watched him lose his mind trying to figure out what happened and smiled. She could afford to let him stress over this at least one time.



“Don’t ask.”

“What on earth happened to you?”

“I told you not to ask.”

“Did you get shoved in that atrocious water body in the rabbit’s Warren?”

“Yes.”

“By whom?”

“Who do you think?”

Pitch stopped talking briefly as Jack started removing his clothing, eventually wearing nothing but the unfazed locket. The Boogeyman had found the undressing Guardian in their bedroom out of sight of the other inhabitants of the lair. Pitch was incredibly amused by Jack’s dyed hair and stained skin and couldn’t help but chuckle at his daughter’s handiwork. Despite the stress they had been enduring over the growth of awareness of Onna’s powers and Sera’s pregnancy, this made the anxiety bearable. He started laughing. He couldn’t help himself. He just laughed at Jack. Jack turned around and looked at him like he’d grown horns. “What?!” Pitch managed past the laughter.

“Am I dead? Because I have to assault you to get you to laugh usually.”

Somehow that made Pitch laugh harder. “You,” he fought with his laughter, “really don’t look good in pastels.”

“No one looks good in pastels. Now, can you help me get cleaned off and find some clothes before Rin finds me and has a field day?”

“Well, he does find you attractive.” That sobered Pitch up quickly. Pulling a sheet from the bed, he wrapped Jack in the black cloth before saying, “I’ll find you some clothing if you get started on your hair. But,” a smile crept across his lips, “don’t be so hasty to get dressed.”

Jack grinned. “We’ll see when you get back.”



As Pitch went to find Jack something to wear, the winter spirit couldn’t help thinking of just how much he’d missed seeing the Nightmare King smile. After worrying about two daughters simultaneously, that smile had become precious to him.


	3. Birth

“They haven’t opened their eyes yet.”

“I see.” Pitch sat beside his daughter, who held two newborn Pooka young tenderly to her chest. It had taken an excessive amount of convincing on both Sera’s and Jack’s part to get the rabbit to let the Nightmare King near his daughter.

And his grandchildren. Pitch was now a grandfather. The notion was still too surreal for him to process even with the children right in front of him.

Sera had had a difficult birth. She was still recovering from the experience. He could tell in her movements that the pain was still fresh in her mind and that made him hesitant to engage in any form of discussion with her or her rabbit. Stress could harm her. At least she wasn’t fearful. That made him relax just the slightest bit. He remained a noticeable distance away from Mother Nature and her children. He was certain that if he got any closer, the rabbit would materialize and attempt to throw him from the Warren. Pitch was surprised he wasn’t here monitoring the Boogeyman’s movements now. He supposed that was because he trusted Sera and Jack, who sat across from Pitch and on the other side of Sera, to do the monitoring for the rabbit. The fact the rabbit managed to peel himself from Sera’s side at all could mean the upcoming holidays were looking grim. Pitch tried very hard not to smile at the thought.

All the other Guardians had already made their visits. Jack had been the last. He had wanted Pitch with him. While the winter spirit’s intentions had been well-meaning, Pitch remained tentative even as he looked at the infants in Sera’s arms. Two healthy girls, one the almost exact replica of her father while the other was straight black.

“I suspect this one,” Sera gestured to the black Pooka, “was the kicker.”

“Is that Amber?” Jack asked, staring fondly at the bundles in Sera’s arms.

“Yeah,” Sera answered with a smile. “Bunny thinks she’ll have my eyes. I don’t know how he knows that, honestly.” She gave Jack a mischievous look. “I wish you could hold one. You look ready to kidnap them.”

Jack tilted his head and gave her a sly grin. “If they’re anything like their father, they hate the cold.”

“And if they’re anything like their grandfather, they won’t let you go. But I see your point. And they’re still adjusting to the environment. Shouldn’t expose them to anything too extreme,” Sera conceded. She turned to Pitch, then. “You should hold one.”

Pitch was taken aback by the suggestion. Shaking his head, he said, “That seems unwise.”

Even Jack agreed with him, which on some level actually reassured him. “Yeah, I don’t think Bunny would be too happy about that.”

“He’ll get over it. They’re not just his children and you’re both their grandfathers as far as I’m concerned.” Sera’s declaration took them a moment to process. Pitch found himself watching Jack’s shocked expression turn to one of warmth and appreciation. She continued, “He and I both agree that it wouldn’t be appropriate to introduce them to . . . other members of the family just yet. You are not those family members.” Pitch knew just whose name she wasn’t saying. He understood, but still inwardly cringed at the idea of having her place one of her children in his arms. He wasn’t sure why. And yet he found himself obeying her as she instructed him on how to hold Eden, the second girl. At first, holding the ball of gray, black, and white fur felt strange. Then a familiarity crept on him and he felt . . . oddly okay. “Now was that so hard?” Sera jibed as she clung to Amber still.

It was harder than Pitch was willing to admit. The distant feeling of being familiar with cradling a child disturbed him. While he remembered much of his life as the Nightmare King, he’d forgotten most of who he’d been before. Both he and Sera had different names and different lives, lives he could not recall but he felt the connections of old all the same. His connection with Sera had never been truly severed, but he could not remember ever holding her in his arms as a baby. Yet cradling Eden felt natural. He glanced over the child as Sera and Jack watched his reaction. Indeed, Eden was every bit the rabbit’s duplicate.

Staring at her, he began to connect the dots in his mind at last. This was his grandchild. Sera had borne her for three trimesters, enduring painful kicks and a voracious appetite she hadn’t had since the culmination of her abilities. She’d given birth to these twins, endangering herself in the process. (This also endangered her husband, whether she liked it or not. The rabbit was completely unaware of what Pitch would have done if Sera was unable to recover from the pregnancy.) Suddenly, he was holding the very thing he’d feared would take his daughter from him and he felt . . . he didn’t know what this was. He was confronted with a sort of reverence, a distinct awe as he stared dumbly at the new generation of a once and still nearly extinct species. And she was his kin. For some reason, he stopped caring that she may one day be an ally to the Guardians who still tiptoed around him despite their tenuous truce. These children were his blood.

He looked up as he felt a chilled arm slide over his shoulders. He hadn’t noticed Jack moving towards and settling beside him. Staring at his partner, he was struck by how odd this should feel to him and yet he no longer felt that way. He hadn’t even felt the smile, though small, crawl across his lips. He mouthed, “She’s beautiful.”



At that moment, Sera knew. She simply knew that any who bore ill to her children would have more, so much more, than the Guardians to worry about.


	4. Family

“Hey ladies,” Rin said with a smile. Amber and Eden both squealed and ran to hide behind Jack.

Jack shook his head. “You’re not supposed to be here. Bunny will kill you if he finds out.”

Rin perked up. “If! If is the key!” He shrugged, twirling his rod. The rod seemed smaller next to Rin each year. Rin and Onna were growing so much that Jack couldn’t believe the rate. In two years’ time, he’d once again be the shortest member of the family. Add one more year for the Fearling and two more for the Snow Girl, and Rin and Onna would cease to grow any longer. “Nightmare Man sent me to see how you were doing, make sure they weren’t giving you hell.”

Jack grinned as he turned to pick up Amber and Eden. Amber didn’t mind his chill, but Eden glared and shivered in his arms. Boosting them over his shoulder, they took their seat inside his hood excitedly. “They’re running me into the ground, but it’s fun.” And tiring, which he didn’t add. Eden sneezed when she sniffed his hair and shivered. Jack could feel the pull on his neck each time they moved inside the hood. Looking back at Rin, he said, “Seriously. Don’t let Bunny find you here.”

“Yeah, yeah, just checking on Frosty Junk for the Nightmare Man. Job done, enjoy your babysitting.” With that, Rin backed into the shadows and disappeared.

Turning his head to see the girls, both of whom rabbits like their father and still very small, he was confronted by Amber’s golden glare. She was every bit a reflection of her mother as she could be, which succeeded in making Jack smile. “Don’t mind him,” he told her, guessing she was upset at Rin’s appearance. He’d guessed right. “He won’t do anything to you. Except smile.” He looked forward. “Which is almost enough to make up for the lack of further action.”

Bunny and Sera had left him to watch Amber and Eden as they handled Easter. In a mere few months, the bundles of fur had become bouncing, blinking, squealing children. They looked much like Bunny had when he’d been forced into a smaller shape due to lack of belief in him all those years ago. Bunny said it would take them much longer to become acquainted with their powers and even longer to speak. Apparently his species was slow to learn speech. Not that the twins need to speak. Their faces and gestures were expressive enough.

So when Eden tapped him twice on the shoulder, he knew his temperature was too cold for her to stand. Crouching and setting her back down, she proceeded to roll happily in the grass of the Warren. Amber remained in his hood, staring down at her green-eyed sister. He didn’t suspect anything until Amber hopped forward over his head, pulling his hood over his eyes. The girls laughed and scampered across the space. “Hey!” Jack called, chasing after them for fear of letting them out of his sight.

Yeah, it was going to be a long Easter for Jack Frost.



“Just a quick check,” Bunny had said. Sera rolled her eyes, grinned, and agreed. She continued hiding eggs as he flew back down the tunnels to his Warren to check on his daughters.

His initial thought at being confronted with silence was terror. He didn’t sense any danger, though. Hopping about, he was ready to call out for Jack when he found the winter spirit lying on one of the larger rocks under a shady tree. Amber was curled up on his chest fast asleep, the youngest Guardian’s hand resting protectively on her back. But that wasn’t the only thing odd about the scene. Beside that pair was none other than Pitch Black, who had his back against the rock Jack and Amber were perched on. He was watching Eden, who was making a game out of hiding under his robe.

Pitch glanced up, as if feeling Bunny’s approach. When Eden emerged from her hiding place and saw her father, she ran squealing toward him. He grinned, his chest warming and innards melting as he bent over and scooped the child up. She hugged him, her tiny paws not even able to cover half his chest. With Eden clutching him, he then stared warily back at the Nightmare King, whose face was unreadable. Finally, the Boogeyman broke the silence. “Amber stared me down for a full five minutes before Jack told her it was okay to approach me.” Bunny didn’t know how to respond to that. “I couldn’t decide if she did that as per your programming or if she was just giving me a nonverbal warning as her mother is like to do.”

Bunny couldn’t resist the grin. Amber was very much like Sera. He didn’t relax, though. He said, “I haven’t yet told them to be suspicious of you.”

Pitch stared at him long and hard, as if trying to figure out if what Bunny was telling him was true. It was. At Sera’s behest, he had refrained from speaking ill of Pitch Black, their grandfather. To be fair, he hadn’t mentioned the man at all. They were still too young to know their history in his opinion anyway.

Pitch straightened up, glancing behind him at Jack and Amber. “They are enchanting,” he uttered almost inaudibly.

Still on edge, Bunny added, “Amber doesn’t just take after her mother.” Looking down at Eden, he adjusted his hold on his daughter. “Same with Eden.”

“I’m sure they will grow to be wonderful protectors of the earth.” Bunny couldn’t tell if those words were sarcastic, malicious, sorrowful, or meaningless. Of all the options, he was positive they weren’t meaningless.

Eden strained in his arms, her actions indicative of her desire to be released. A moment ago, he might have denied her the wish, but against his better judgment he let her run to her grandfather. His heart beating with a mixture of anxiety and hope, he said, “I don’t mean just me.” Pitch hardly noticed the young Pooka tangling herself in his robes as he looked back at Eden’s and Amber’s father. His face was still unreadable, but his eyes. Bunny had seen Pitch’s eyes go alight . . . he couldn’t even count the times. The amount was pitiful. It barely covered a paw. But is eyes were shining, and that somehow didn’t bother Bunny. “I don’t know what their powers would be like. I don’t know if they’ll even have powers like we have. But if either of them makes their home in darkness,” Bunny paused, knowing in his gut that it would bother him. It would bother him on a guttural level that his daughters might be dark, that they may come to be acquainted with shadows. But he also knew that nothing is truly born dark. He’s only ever known creatures to be corrupted by darkness. He’d never met anyone who was innately dark. And . . . not all darkness was evil. He began again, “If either of them makes their home in darkness, I know they won’t be alone. They’ll always have someone there for them, who understands them.” He couldn’t believe he was saying this to the one person he once feared and loathed the most. “They’ll be safe.”

Pitch and Bunny exchanged meaningful looks. Here they were, past enemies and uncertain allies. Destroyer of worlds versus builder. Bunny had long ago lost his species, his family. He’d long accepted his position as the last of his kind. In a way, though . . . Pitch and Sera were the last of their kind too. Unlike Bunny, their very nature had been modified to survive. Granted, it was Pitch they’d had to survive. But Bunny remembered two things at that moment. Two things, two redeeming qualities, two moments in which Pitch had ceased to be a tyrant in his mind and transcended to something he could once again respect.

He thought back to Jack’s attack. Jack had been lying in a bed comatose for days while Pitch hunted his attackers. Once taken care of, Pitch had then proceeded to guard Jack as though his own life and existence depended on Jack Frost’s survival.

Bunny also remembered how Pitch had almost given his life to protect a daughter who’d sworn she’d hated him. Bunny remembered vividly what it had been like for him and Jack to face a world without their spouses.

These were the moments that assured Bunny that Eden and Amber would never be harmed by the Nightmare King. If these memories weren’t enough, the fondness Pitch tried to hide when glimpsing the young Pookas, the fondness he thought Bunny couldn’t see, was enough.

Instead of letting the moment drag on, Bunny turned to leave. He still had work to do, and his children couldn’t be safer. “Rabbit,” Pitch said, calling for Bunny to turn back around. This time, the nickname didn’t grate on his nerves. “They’d still be safe even if they despised darkness.”

Bunny couldn’t fight the smile. “Can’t argue there, mate. That would make thing odd for him there.” He gestured to Jack.

Pitch also didn’t recoil at being referred to as mate. That was a first. “I seem to recall that even when he was infected with my shadows, you too protected him.”

“I’m beginning to think,” Bunny murmured, “we’re not so different after all.”

If they really took the time to think about it, they could link up all their similarities. But they didn’t need to. Instead, Pitch threw him a typical grin and said, “Go spread you hope, rabbit. I’ll keep the Nightmares at bay this year.”

And instead of taking it as an insult, he practically flew back up the tunnels to find his wife.



“Well, you look entirely too pleased with yourself.”

Bunny smirked at Sera as they hid in the bushes and watched the children. They got a clear view of Sophie and Jamie, both still going on egg hunts despite their age. Jamie was now twenty and Sophia twelve, yet they still dutifully spread belief in the Guardians. And Pitch. Sophie still visited Sera’s father on special occasions.

“I think,” Bunny began, “I’ve made a discovery.”

“Isn’t that North’s division?” She grinned as Bunny lied flat on his stomach beside her, peering through the leaves at the kids. “God, humans, grow fast,” she thought aloud. Seemed like only yesterday that Sophie had been small enough to hide in her hair and surprise the Boogeyman.

“Eden may be slowly turning your father into someone I could actually get along with,” Bunny interrupted her reverie.

Sera turned her head to look at him. Her surprise must have been evident, because his smile widened. “He’s there?” Bunny nodded. “And you didn’t try to oust him?”

Bunny shook his head. “Then I’d be depriving Eden of her favorite hiding place. If he complains about missing his robe, it’s entirely possible that our daughters might have it.”

Sera couldn’t help but grin widely. This meant more than a simple agreement to not speak ill of her familial ties. Bunny was supporting, condoning, a relationship between her father and their daughters. He hadn’t said it outright, but that was the implication. Sitting up slightly, she kissed him tenderly on the cheek. He chuckled, and she found herself pulling one of his ears to her lips so she could whisper into it, “I love you.”

He gave her a mischievous look. “No furry bastard at the end?”

“Shh! There are children listening,” she joked. He laughed as she added in a hushed tone, “Maybe later.”



Easter was better than Christmas that year. And Bunny didn’t feel the need to explain why to his good friend North. And North didn’t seem to need to hear why.

**Author's Note:**

> We're drawing to a close for this series guys. There's one more fic, and then Why is Tea Always Gone is finished. It has been one heck of a journey with you all. I hope you're not upset that I won't be receiving anymore requests for this universe.
> 
> It will be time for me to focus on the AUs entirely.
> 
> I love you all. Thank you so much for riding this roller coaster with me.


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